Whoah, did I get up in a total funk. As soon as I opened my eyes this morning, I knew it was going to be that kind of day. I got up and got to work and realized that I was in a bad state. I am just feeling negative. I decided to try to fight off my mood by getting on the bike. I had a 2 hour speed ride, so I figured I would see if pedaling furiously for 2 hours would fix me up a bit. But, it doesn't seem to have changed much. BOOOOO HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
So now I am going to head out for a run and see what that does. The one good thing I am getting out of my bad day is that all my work outs will be complete before I head out to teach spin. So that is something!
Other than trying to work on my bad mood, I have just been training and watching the Olympics. I got in a long brick on Saturday, which felt good and then a ZR ride on Sunday along with a ten mile run. The run was great and at a good pace, but it left me with lead filled legs for Monday. Tomorrow I will head to the pool again to try out my timing on 50 repeats again.
Hopefully by tomorrow, I will be in a better state of mind and we can say adios to my Debbie Downer attitude! But for now I will just go pound the pavement for a bit and see what that does for me!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Can someone please tell me how to get to Zone 3?
I woke up on Wednesday still dealing with the slight sensation of shin splints, thankful that I had to head to the pool for my workout. I had some swim intervals to get done. Here was my swim plan:
Warmup:
1000 continuous @ TT+10
Main Set:
10 x 50 at best effort.
Cooldown:
500 EZ pull
I figured a little swim time might be nice, that is, until I got in the water. My arms were still beat from the race on Sunday and I was dragging ass big time. I spent the main set, cursing and making waves, but I am happy to say, that even when I wanted to quit, I got them done. The Cooldown ended up taking me just as long as the warm up, buy hey, it was a cool down! Once I was done I pulled myself out of the pool and headed home. I had to cover a spin class at 7pm, so I had some major couch time with my lap top on the agenda.
This morning I got up for some Zone 3 work on the bike. And it was another one of "those days" when during the warm up I can hardly get into Zone 1. My intervals were 15 min in Z3 with a 5 in rest in ZR, so I beat the crap out of myself to try to get into Zone 3 for a bit, which was mildly successful. I managed to get there for a while, but ended up settling on the higher end of Zone 2 for most of the intervals. Once done, I sat down for some breakfast and conference calls. An egg white and tomato omelet, whole wheat english muffin, turkey bacon and 3 calls with India later, I was ready to get my next workout done and out of the way.
For my next workout I had a Zone 2 Tempo Run. I would warm up, spend 20 minutes in Zone 2 followed by 5 minutes in ZR. I had to get through this two times. I grabbed my gossip mags and headed to the gym to sweat this one out. The warm up went well at 9:18 min/miles, then I started my first tempo set, and the first 20 minutes were ok, at 8:41, but I was feeling a bit over heated and bit tired. I took the ZR portion at a brisk walk, ate a shot block and then started set 2. This one was a bit harder and a bit slower at 8:51. By the time I was done, I was soaked from head to toe and completely beat up. I grabbed my remaining gossip and headed home to get back to my calls and here I am now, sitting and watching my counter top get installed and working, while I day dream about going to bed!
Tonight I have dinner in my home town with some friends and I am looking forward to some cocktails and a good night sleep. Tomorrow I have another early day with a some speed work in the pool followed by a morning of plumbers and refrigerator deliveries. Then tomorrow it is opening ceremonies for the Olympics, there is no better time to get serious about training then when you are watching the Olympic athletes compete. I just hope everyone doesn't get the Phelps swimming bug and start cluttering up the pool like the last Summer Games!
Enjoy your Thursday before the rain comes!
Warmup:
1000 continuous @ TT+10
Main Set:
10 x 50 at best effort.
Cooldown:
500 EZ pull
I figured a little swim time might be nice, that is, until I got in the water. My arms were still beat from the race on Sunday and I was dragging ass big time. I spent the main set, cursing and making waves, but I am happy to say, that even when I wanted to quit, I got them done. The Cooldown ended up taking me just as long as the warm up, buy hey, it was a cool down! Once I was done I pulled myself out of the pool and headed home. I had to cover a spin class at 7pm, so I had some major couch time with my lap top on the agenda.
This morning I got up for some Zone 3 work on the bike. And it was another one of "those days" when during the warm up I can hardly get into Zone 1. My intervals were 15 min in Z3 with a 5 in rest in ZR, so I beat the crap out of myself to try to get into Zone 3 for a bit, which was mildly successful. I managed to get there for a while, but ended up settling on the higher end of Zone 2 for most of the intervals. Once done, I sat down for some breakfast and conference calls. An egg white and tomato omelet, whole wheat english muffin, turkey bacon and 3 calls with India later, I was ready to get my next workout done and out of the way.
For my next workout I had a Zone 2 Tempo Run. I would warm up, spend 20 minutes in Zone 2 followed by 5 minutes in ZR. I had to get through this two times. I grabbed my gossip mags and headed to the gym to sweat this one out. The warm up went well at 9:18 min/miles, then I started my first tempo set, and the first 20 minutes were ok, at 8:41, but I was feeling a bit over heated and bit tired. I took the ZR portion at a brisk walk, ate a shot block and then started set 2. This one was a bit harder and a bit slower at 8:51. By the time I was done, I was soaked from head to toe and completely beat up. I grabbed my remaining gossip and headed home to get back to my calls and here I am now, sitting and watching my counter top get installed and working, while I day dream about going to bed!
Tonight I have dinner in my home town with some friends and I am looking forward to some cocktails and a good night sleep. Tomorrow I have another early day with a some speed work in the pool followed by a morning of plumbers and refrigerator deliveries. Then tomorrow it is opening ceremonies for the Olympics, there is no better time to get serious about training then when you are watching the Olympic athletes compete. I just hope everyone doesn't get the Phelps swimming bug and start cluttering up the pool like the last Summer Games!
Enjoy your Thursday before the rain comes!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Shin Splints
Ok who has the cure? I woke up this morning with major shin splints, which is not a common feeling for me. I got in some ZR work on the bike and now they seem to be worse. I was supposed to do a 30 min ZR/Z1 T run but I am not sure my legs can handle it. And I am even more unsure as to where these have come from. I have made sure to get in some non-treadmill runs prior to my race to avoid this issue and I didn't feel them yesterday but today my shins are screaming. So come on, tell me how to get rid of them, because I have to teach spin for the next two nights, so this is something I am not in the mood to deal with.
The good thing is, other than my shin splints I am not really sore at all from my race. Time to disect this fact....Now what does that mean? Did I not work hard enough? Or does it really not mean anything? For some reason I associate the crippling soreness and the need to use the handicap stall in public restrooms feeling with racing hard. But maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am just getting into better shape so recovery is not as challenging? I am sure that has something to do with it. Which leads me to believe my shins are not in good shape, hence the pain today. Can shins be in bad shape? Who knows!
Oh well, thankfully with all of the spinning that I have in store, outside of this looming 30 min run I really only have to swim for the next 2 days. So hopefully by the time I get back on the bike on Thursday, the pain will have gone away. Until then I am going to make sure to get in a lot of time on the couch with my feet up. And on that note, it's time to get back to the couch!
The good thing is, other than my shin splints I am not really sore at all from my race. Time to disect this fact....Now what does that mean? Did I not work hard enough? Or does it really not mean anything? For some reason I associate the crippling soreness and the need to use the handicap stall in public restrooms feeling with racing hard. But maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am just getting into better shape so recovery is not as challenging? I am sure that has something to do with it. Which leads me to believe my shins are not in good shape, hence the pain today. Can shins be in bad shape? Who knows!
Oh well, thankfully with all of the spinning that I have in store, outside of this looming 30 min run I really only have to swim for the next 2 days. So hopefully by the time I get back on the bike on Thursday, the pain will have gone away. Until then I am going to make sure to get in a lot of time on the couch with my feet up. And on that note, it's time to get back to the couch!
Monday, July 23, 2012
NJ State Olympic Tri Race Report
WE HAVE HAD A BREAKTHROUGH! A successful race weekend! As I mentioned last week, I was racing the NJ State Olympic Tri for the 2nd time on Sunday. So on Saturday, Nick and I packed up the car and headed down to Princeton for the night. Once we arrived, 45 min later, laughing quite a bit, because we realized maybe a hotel wasn't totally necessary, we decided if we were here we should have some fun. We walked around near our hotel a bit and headed out for a nice pasta dinner al fresco. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, grabbed a night cap and went up to our room. We were in bed by 9pm and ready for some fantastically bad TV and some pre-race panic dreams, for me.
My alarm went off at 5:20 and I was up and at em'. I got on my racing kit and starting making all of my water bottles. I had to be at the race site by around 6:30 to pick up my packet and get set up prior to transition closing at 7:15, so at 6 we headed out to check out of our room and hit the road. Once at the race site I went over to packet pick up, only to find they had given away my racing chip to someone else. So I got a new race number and timing chip and headed into transition to get set up.
Once I found my transition area, I couldn't help but laugh a bit. I was racked with all men probably AG 30-40 and I looked fantastically out of place. Everyone was looking at my bike and checking my number to make sure I was in the right place and low and behold, I was! It actually ended up being to my advantage, because it was the last row, so it was easy to find and when I was in transition there was no one around me to get in my way, because this wave went before me.
Thankfully, due to the low temps, it was around 67 at the start, the water temps were just at 77 so we were able to swim with wetsuits if we so pleased. So I did. Once in the water, I got up to the front of the group and was off. The swim seemed ok, if not a little longer than it should be, which I heard others saying as well. The only issue I had was with my right side of my goggles. It seemed to be leaking a bit, which has been happening a lot lately, so I think it is time for them to retire and for me to invest in a new pair. All in all, the swim was uneventful, there was a point where I did start to get a little tired, but once I made the last turn heading back to the dock I was able to pull it together and get moving.
T1 was nice and empty and I switched my gear and headed out for a nice bike ride. I was trucking out of T1 and mounted my bike and was ready to get into the groove. I hit the road on a mission to pass as many people as I could. I was about 2 minutes into the bike and the passing began. Then the craziest, yet most motivational thing happened. I am was passing this 53 year old woman, and switching gears. As I tried to pass, her my gear slipped and so I was stuck for a second right next to her. Now mind you, we were on a closed street so I was probably about 4 feet from her on an open road. All of sudden I hear in this snotty voice, "Well if you are going to pass me, pass me already!" At which point I struggled with my gear a bit (she could obviously hear the grinding) and then turned to her and said, "Oh don't worry I will. On your left". And then I knew, I had to book it and make sure this woman did not pass me for the remainder of the ride, because I could only imagine what she would say if she did! But seriously what a BIATCH! If anything she lit a fire under my ass and helped my race, but sheesh, cheer up lady!
The entire ride, I tried to keep my cadence around 95 and pace between 19.6 and 22. My plan worked out perfectly I came in with an average pace on 19.8mph and I felt fantastic. It is relatively flat course with some gradual climbs, which are good because they seemed to be perfectly placed to remind you this was hard work, but for the first time I executed both nutrition and bike perfectly. I flew into T2 an 1:18 later and was ready for some running.
T2 was nice and quick and before I knew it I was fighting with my Garmin to get it to work properly and out for a nice run. The first two miles were fast and I was feeling good. There was one section that was about 15 seconds long where for some reason my legs felt like they just wanted to stop, but I pushed through and the feeling was gone before it got to my brain. I stayed within my zones and suddenly I was halfway done. I ran by Nick at 3.1 miles all smiles and announced, "Only 5k t o go!" and headed back out to run. I felt great, with only slight cramping around mile 4.5, which is reflected in my garmin files, but I was able to tell my body to suck it up and keep moving. I headed into the finishing chute, got my medal and headed to grab my results.
And here they are. One of their timing mats was not functioning some some times are missing/wrong:
Finish Time 2:43:39
Overall: 366/858
Gender:67/312
Div 30-34: 13/43
Swim:29:03
T1: 1:40 ( I was on a mission)
Bike: They didn't have this but I checked my cateye on the way into T2 and it was 1:18:54 average pace was around 19.8
T2: 15 min (this was my favorite error, like I had a picnic before heading out for my run)
Run: 52:39
So an approx 9 min PR from May and an 8 min PR from last year at this race.I will take it!
Then I packed up the car and headed back to the house to sit by the pool and get in some more tv watching.
Now it is on the next race! I actually don't have anything planned for August, but I am thinking that soon may change. I am hoping to maybe find a sprint to get in. If not, I will keep training for my half in September. Tomorrow it is back to the bike!
How was everyone's weekend?
My alarm went off at 5:20 and I was up and at em'. I got on my racing kit and starting making all of my water bottles. I had to be at the race site by around 6:30 to pick up my packet and get set up prior to transition closing at 7:15, so at 6 we headed out to check out of our room and hit the road. Once at the race site I went over to packet pick up, only to find they had given away my racing chip to someone else. So I got a new race number and timing chip and headed into transition to get set up.
Once I found my transition area, I couldn't help but laugh a bit. I was racked with all men probably AG 30-40 and I looked fantastically out of place. Everyone was looking at my bike and checking my number to make sure I was in the right place and low and behold, I was! It actually ended up being to my advantage, because it was the last row, so it was easy to find and when I was in transition there was no one around me to get in my way, because this wave went before me.
Thankfully, due to the low temps, it was around 67 at the start, the water temps were just at 77 so we were able to swim with wetsuits if we so pleased. So I did. Once in the water, I got up to the front of the group and was off. The swim seemed ok, if not a little longer than it should be, which I heard others saying as well. The only issue I had was with my right side of my goggles. It seemed to be leaking a bit, which has been happening a lot lately, so I think it is time for them to retire and for me to invest in a new pair. All in all, the swim was uneventful, there was a point where I did start to get a little tired, but once I made the last turn heading back to the dock I was able to pull it together and get moving.
T1 was nice and empty and I switched my gear and headed out for a nice bike ride. I was trucking out of T1 and mounted my bike and was ready to get into the groove. I hit the road on a mission to pass as many people as I could. I was about 2 minutes into the bike and the passing began. Then the craziest, yet most motivational thing happened. I am was passing this 53 year old woman, and switching gears. As I tried to pass, her my gear slipped and so I was stuck for a second right next to her. Now mind you, we were on a closed street so I was probably about 4 feet from her on an open road. All of sudden I hear in this snotty voice, "Well if you are going to pass me, pass me already!" At which point I struggled with my gear a bit (she could obviously hear the grinding) and then turned to her and said, "Oh don't worry I will. On your left". And then I knew, I had to book it and make sure this woman did not pass me for the remainder of the ride, because I could only imagine what she would say if she did! But seriously what a BIATCH! If anything she lit a fire under my ass and helped my race, but sheesh, cheer up lady!
The entire ride, I tried to keep my cadence around 95 and pace between 19.6 and 22. My plan worked out perfectly I came in with an average pace on 19.8mph and I felt fantastic. It is relatively flat course with some gradual climbs, which are good because they seemed to be perfectly placed to remind you this was hard work, but for the first time I executed both nutrition and bike perfectly. I flew into T2 an 1:18 later and was ready for some running.
T2 was nice and quick and before I knew it I was fighting with my Garmin to get it to work properly and out for a nice run. The first two miles were fast and I was feeling good. There was one section that was about 15 seconds long where for some reason my legs felt like they just wanted to stop, but I pushed through and the feeling was gone before it got to my brain. I stayed within my zones and suddenly I was halfway done. I ran by Nick at 3.1 miles all smiles and announced, "Only 5k t o go!" and headed back out to run. I felt great, with only slight cramping around mile 4.5, which is reflected in my garmin files, but I was able to tell my body to suck it up and keep moving. I headed into the finishing chute, got my medal and headed to grab my results.
And here they are. One of their timing mats was not functioning some some times are missing/wrong:
Finish Time 2:43:39
Overall: 366/858
Gender:67/312
Div 30-34: 13/43
Swim:29:03
T1: 1:40 ( I was on a mission)
Bike: They didn't have this but I checked my cateye on the way into T2 and it was 1:18:54 average pace was around 19.8
T2: 15 min (this was my favorite error, like I had a picnic before heading out for my run)
Run: 52:39
So an approx 9 min PR from May and an 8 min PR from last year at this race.I will take it!
Then I packed up the car and headed back to the house to sit by the pool and get in some more tv watching.
Now it is on the next race! I actually don't have anything planned for August, but I am thinking that soon may change. I am hoping to maybe find a sprint to get in. If not, I will keep training for my half in September. Tomorrow it is back to the bike!
How was everyone's weekend?
Friday, July 20, 2012
Race Weekend
Race weekend is again upon us. I am racing the NJ State Olympic Triathlon this weekend for the second time. Last year all I remember is that while it wasn't blistering hot, it was humid and soupy until the end of the race where the sun came out blazing! But the good news is according to the weather channel this weekend should not be humid nor will it be that hot. It looks like low of 71 high of 83, which is doable. I will be interested to see the water temp, since this one is usually not wetsuit legal. I am really hoping for the help of my wetsuit this time around!
This is only my second race this season, which has gotten me thinking a lot about next month. I feel like I should be racing more. Maybe if I race more, I will be a little more enthusiastic about tri season. I have been training diligently, ok diligently outside of the swim portion which is my current mental block, but I have been getting everything in yet still feeling blah about it. I am beginning to think the lack of racing in my schedule may be having an effect on my brain while training. Maybe I need more competition in my schedule to keep the fire lit? So I am thinking maybe I will take on another sprint or two next month and see what that does for me.
The plan for this weekend is to do what I can do on the swim, maintain a HR of 175 on the bike and then run the best I can. Like Red Bank, I want to cross the finish line and feel like I did the best I can if not a little more. So hopefully it all pans out!
Then my goal is to get back to some serious training and keeping up with this blog. While on the never ending quest for perfection, I need to check in with reality every once in a while!
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend, I will be back with a race report next week.
This is only my second race this season, which has gotten me thinking a lot about next month. I feel like I should be racing more. Maybe if I race more, I will be a little more enthusiastic about tri season. I have been training diligently, ok diligently outside of the swim portion which is my current mental block, but I have been getting everything in yet still feeling blah about it. I am beginning to think the lack of racing in my schedule may be having an effect on my brain while training. Maybe I need more competition in my schedule to keep the fire lit? So I am thinking maybe I will take on another sprint or two next month and see what that does for me.
The plan for this weekend is to do what I can do on the swim, maintain a HR of 175 on the bike and then run the best I can. Like Red Bank, I want to cross the finish line and feel like I did the best I can if not a little more. So hopefully it all pans out!
Then my goal is to get back to some serious training and keeping up with this blog. While on the never ending quest for perfection, I need to check in with reality every once in a while!
Good luck to everyone racing this weekend, I will be back with a race report next week.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Weekend
I am up early on this Saturday and I am getting ready to get moving. With our kitchen renovations at the halfway point we are trying to get some relaxing in this summer and this is one of the first weekends in a while that we are going to attempt it. It is crazy how the lifestyle in our house has changed quite a bit this summer. Usually we spend our weekends, drink in hand by the pool. But with kitchen renovations happening every weekend along with trips to the beach, life has slowed down a bit. Outside of my birthday weekend, we have been taking it a bit easier. Ahh the joys of growing up!
So this weekend we are going to kick back a bit, but not without some training involved. Today I am teaching 2 hours of back-to-back spin classes followed by a 40 min T run. This should be interesting considering it is already 80 degrees, with an hour to go until class. Nothing like sitting in a room with 13 other sweaty smelly people! Another time in life where I am ok with my limited smelling abilities.
Then it is back to the house for a pool party. We are all stocked with pasta salad and burgers and plan on spending some quality 106 degree time in the pool. I seriously think that is where I will end up being most of the day, submerged in water with a cocktail.
But not too many cocktails, because Sunday looks like this:
1:30 ZR ride
1:15 Z1/Z2 run
TRX - lower half
And then I will be making a final trip to Home Depot to buy the pulls for our new cabinets and look at back splashes and then off to Sam's Club to stock up on bulk meat to bbq, since that is still our only method of cooking. And I must admit after 1 month of being creative with chicken, after this summer, I may never eat chicken again!
So there you have it, one day of being crazy and another of acting my age again. Now let's see if we can pull of being crazy without melting in this heat! Off to get my spin on. Have a great weekend!
So this weekend we are going to kick back a bit, but not without some training involved. Today I am teaching 2 hours of back-to-back spin classes followed by a 40 min T run. This should be interesting considering it is already 80 degrees, with an hour to go until class. Nothing like sitting in a room with 13 other sweaty smelly people! Another time in life where I am ok with my limited smelling abilities.
Then it is back to the house for a pool party. We are all stocked with pasta salad and burgers and plan on spending some quality 106 degree time in the pool. I seriously think that is where I will end up being most of the day, submerged in water with a cocktail.
But not too many cocktails, because Sunday looks like this:
1:30 ZR ride
1:15 Z1/Z2 run
TRX - lower half
And then I will be making a final trip to Home Depot to buy the pulls for our new cabinets and look at back splashes and then off to Sam's Club to stock up on bulk meat to bbq, since that is still our only method of cooking. And I must admit after 1 month of being creative with chicken, after this summer, I may never eat chicken again!
So there you have it, one day of being crazy and another of acting my age again. Now let's see if we can pull of being crazy without melting in this heat! Off to get my spin on. Have a great weekend!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Eating and Training
Happy belated 4th to everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their day off. I spent the morning prepping bbq food, riding and teaching a sculpt class. Then headed home to sit myself by the pool and hang out with some friends. Every year we invite over the same group of people for some pool time during the day, then we head over to our friends roof to watch the fireworks at night. I have to say the 4th being in the middle of the week was a bit of a pain but at the same time it helped to break up the week.
The week of training has been going well. Last weekend I had a very successful long run and then spent the afternoon kayaking in the bay with my dad down at my beach house. I woke up on Monday to teach surprisingly sore. I forgot about all those muscles you use when you paddle. OUCH! While at the beach I made sure to get as much seafood in my body as possible, most importantly shrimp and lobster. Talk about heavenly.
Outside of my extra 4th of July sculpt class, I also covered another sculpt class at 6am on Tuesday. Needless to say by Tuesday night, between, teaching, getting my workouts in and painting my kitchen, I was beat. The rest of week will include some speed work in the pool (need to force myself to get in the pool already!), some running speed work to include mile repeats and the usual long ride and long run on the weekend. Oh and subbing more spin classes on Saturday. I am actually looking forward to this weekend, because we are planning on doing absolutely nothing and those are the best kind of weekends!
Enjoy the rest of your short week! I must go and get ready to run some mile repeats. Wish me luck!
The week of training has been going well. Last weekend I had a very successful long run and then spent the afternoon kayaking in the bay with my dad down at my beach house. I woke up on Monday to teach surprisingly sore. I forgot about all those muscles you use when you paddle. OUCH! While at the beach I made sure to get as much seafood in my body as possible, most importantly shrimp and lobster. Talk about heavenly.
Outside of my extra 4th of July sculpt class, I also covered another sculpt class at 6am on Tuesday. Needless to say by Tuesday night, between, teaching, getting my workouts in and painting my kitchen, I was beat. The rest of week will include some speed work in the pool (need to force myself to get in the pool already!), some running speed work to include mile repeats and the usual long ride and long run on the weekend. Oh and subbing more spin classes on Saturday. I am actually looking forward to this weekend, because we are planning on doing absolutely nothing and those are the best kind of weekends!
Enjoy the rest of your short week! I must go and get ready to run some mile repeats. Wish me luck!
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